Three new administrators getting the hang of Somerset schools

It’s been an autumn of transition in many ways for Somerset schools. The high school is now part of its own district with Berkley, with the longer name of Somerset-Berkley Regional High School. The process between approval of the district and its official start required its own eight-member interim school committee....

By Grant Welker

The Herald News, Fall River, MA

By Grant Welker

Posted Oct. 31, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 31, 2011 at 1:45 PM

By Grant Welker

Posted Oct. 31, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 31, 2011 at 1:45 PM

SOMERSET

» Social News

It’s been an autumn of transition in many ways for Somerset schools. The high school is now part of its own district with Berkley, with the longer name of Somerset-Berkley Regional High School. The process between approval of the district and its official start required its own eight-member interim school committee.

But for two new principals and an assistant principal, the first two months of the new school year have also required personal adjustments.

The high school has a new principal in Jahmal Mosley and new assistant in Susan Brelsford. Both said they’ve enjoyed their first two months at Somerset-Berkley and have been busy getting to know students and staff, and helping to plan a new high school.

“It’s been very busy,” said Mosley, who was hired in April after five years as a vice principal of Brattleboro Union High School, a regional public school in Vermont. “Very busy in a positive way.”

It is Mosley’s first job as a principal, and he said he’s worked hard to get better. Two of his main priorities are working with planners to help determine educational features of the new high school and to address issues identified last year in a report by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, such as instruction and assessment.

Mosley, a Brockton native, has moved to Somerset, and his three children attend North Elementary School. He said he’s been warmly received by the community as a whole and especially by teachers and content coordinators, who met with him or talked with him soon after he was hired.

Mosley went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst for his bachelor’s degree in African-American studies and psychology. He then got his master’s in education from Wheelock College, a small school in Boston. Last fall, he earned his doctorate of education from UMass.

Brelsford joined Somerset-Berkley after 11 years at Apponequet Regional High School in Lakeville, where she was a science content coordinator and biology teacher. Like Mosley, she said she’s enjoyed her busy school year so far.

“It’s an exciting place to be right now,” said Brelsford, a Connecticut native who has a biology degree from Stonehill College and an educational leadership master’s degree from Bridgewater State University. She’s now working on a dissertation for a doctorate degree at Northeastern University. She plans to receive her doctorate next fall.

Brelsford also talked about the warm reception she’s received, calling support from the district’s two towns “incredibly impressive.”

At Chace Street Elementary School, Deborah Cimo is also in her first year as principal.

Cimo was most recently a principal at Kempton Elementary School in New Bedford, and, in total, she has 33 years of experience in education. A Fall River resident who has lived most of her life in the city, Cimo started her career as a special-education teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in New Bedford, a position she held for 24 years.

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Cimo said her transition has gone very smoothly, and that her first two months at Chace have re-energized her.

“The kids are absolutely wonderful, and it’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I enjoy my job very much.”

Cimo describes herself as a hands-on principal who likes to spend time in the classrooms, in the cafeteria, out on the playground and outside the front door when the buses arrive in the morning.

One challenge at Chace has been balancing her desire to be out and about at school with her other duties as principal. But the school’s warm environment, and the way people treat each other like family, has made her time at the school very enjoyable, she said.

“It’s been a wonderful experience and a great challenge,” Cimo said. “This was the right decision for me.”

Cimo replaced Judith Richardson, who retired after last school year after 12 years. Cimo is working toward her doctorate in educational leadership from Northeastern University, and she expects to receive the doctorate in April.